


And July

by Thornysilk



Category: NU'EST, Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alpha niel, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, I hope it wont confuse anyone, M/M, Ongniel, Science purposes, aboverse, collegeAU, omega ong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-21 19:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15565011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thornysilk/pseuds/Thornysilk
Summary: Kang Daniel's life becomes a roller coaster journey after presenting during initiation day.





	1. Chapter 1

"Hyung!"

 

 

Daniel banged on the door a few more times without getting a proper feedback. Seongwoo's smell was fading. The older is getting further away from him.

 

 

"Fuck!" Daniel curses in frustration, hands clutching his head to force himself to think. "This can't be happening..."

 

 

 

It was just hours ago that he underwent his initiation along with his other friends, anxiously waiting to get the results.

But boy, the results were not what he’s expecting.

 


	2. Initiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone goes crazy at some point

 

 

The double door was slammed open, a figure appeared from the other side and seemed to be very furious as he stomped across the room with an enraged expression after finishing the test and receiving the result that did not reach his expectation. Daniel gulped uneasily, sharing worried glances with Seongwu. Minhyun sighed at the side while Minki facepalmed. It’s going to be a long and heartbreaking day.

 

 

 

It’s initiation day, meaning that every student will go through tests to determine their so-called ‘hierarchy’ in society. Today, they’ll finally know their standing in the community, whether they are an alpha, beta or omega. Because the initiation only happens every three years, and only happens when your body is ready to undergo drastic changes, all college students from every faculty within the age of 20 to 24 are gathered together in the spacious school cafeteria to wait for their own turn to undergo the physical test. 

 

 

 

“I need to admit that I am very nervous right now,” Daniel whispered. His heel  couldn’t stop bouncing against the floor as he sat impatiently on the provided bench. 

 

 

 

“You’re the only one who’s excited for this day to come since we’re in high school,” Seongwu pointed out with a teasing smile. “Looks like the nerves finally got to you, huh? But it’s gonna be fine, puppy.”

 

 

 

As Seongwu ruffled Daniel’s head, the younger sensed the comfortable scent emitting from the older, basking in the comfort and leaning into Seongwu’s touch like a real puppy craving for his master’s utmost attention.   
“Do you think I can be a good beta?” Daniel questioned suddenly, voice slightly above a whisper. “Can I even be a beta?”

 

 

 

Seongwu laughed loudly and patted the younger’s knee. “Why are you suddenly so nervous? The only reason why you want to be a beta so badly was so you can finally take peter and rooney from Busan and raise them here.”

 

 

 

Daniel groaned and leaned his head on Seongwu’s shoulder. “Sorry I don’t have that much motivation to be an alpha or to be anything at all at this point. What’s the point on aiming a particular role? Why do you want to be an alpha, hyung?”

 

 

 

“I haven’t thought of a long-term benefit but I just want to appear at the cover of our annual university catalogue as the strongest alpha and get the fame and money, also an acting offer too if I can.” Seongwu smirked and flexed his lanky arms while Daniel laughed uncontrollably at the failed attempt to show off some muscle. 

 

 

 

Minhyun, ever the fatherly and observant dad friend he is, could only sigh at the nth time he is forced to witness Seongwu and Daniel’s interaction.   
“Can someone hold me back before I force them to kiss,” Minhyun declared to the group of friends who sat nearby. Seonho dutifully latched himself on Minhyun’s back in effort to anchor him down to the bench. 

 

 

 

“If I were you, I’d just storm there and tie them together until they confess,” Minki admitted casually while flipping a page of his magazine. “Less effort.”

 

 

 

“I’ll help you with the tying. I was a scout boy and learned about tying strong knots during camp.” Jaehwan puffed his cheeks and gestured animatedly with his hand of tying a rope. Minki patted him on the back for being a supportive friend.

 

 

The two boys were oblivious of being the topic of their friend’s discussion, too lost in their own world to realize everyone’s gazes.

 

 

 

“Why is everyone aiming to be an alpha anyway? Why do they have certain goals? Aren’t everything the same? We’re still a living thing after all.”  Daniel closed his eyes as Seongwu began carding his hair and massaging his scalp. 

 

 

 

“I don’t actually know, puppy.” Seongwu chuckled. “You ask awfully a lot of questions today.”

 

 

 

Daniel hummed. “I just feel bad for them you know? They’ll just get disappointed when the results say otherwise.”

 

 

 

 Suddenly the door that leads to the examination room burst open, a young female walks out while crying her eyes out, crumpling a paper in her hand. Must have been another case of unexpected diagnose. Her group of friends immediately went to her aid and began uttering comforting words and giving her the mental support. 

 

 

 

 

“Everyone after the test is either crying or attempting murder right now,” Daehwi voiced out. “Dongho hyung is doing the latter.”

 

 

 

Kuanlin began to cackle. “I was with Dongho hyung this morning since he got earlier turn than us and I had nothing to do so I waited with him. He was pretty excited to finally be presented as an omega and live his fullest as a male omega. But after he came out of the examination room, he was so pissed he ripped his result folder to pieces and ate five burgers in ten minutes.”

 

 

 

Minhyun winced. “Wow, dream shattered.”

 

 

 

“Yeah, I know right? The initiation crushes people’s expectation and self-esteem.” Kuanlin added as he bit on another vegetable cracker.

 

 

 

“He got a big bold A on his paper, didn’t he?” Minhyun questioned to make sure.

 

 

A nod from Kuanlin sent everyone to a tense silence.

 

 

 

“We hear him talk about his dreams of using the depressant fund from the government to buy a new couch. He was so ready to finally use his heat cycle as a reason to skip work and punch strangers in the subway,” Jaehwan said. “I did not have the heart to tell Dongho that his ideas and thoughts might be too aggressive for an omega.”

 

 

 

Daehwi suddenly sat right up in his seat. “Do you guys remember Kwon Hyunbin from my lit class? The tall lanky guy who would trip on his own feet and couldn’t even find the toilet for the whole day?”

 

 

 

“Could never forget that wimp,” Minki chortled at the memory. “What’s up with him?” 

 

 

 

“He presented as a beta this morning!”

 

 

 

The group gasped together out of shock. This seemed to finally grab Seongwu and Daniel’s attention as they finally pull apart and scooted closer to their friends.  
“No way! I thought he would be like the lowest standard of being an omega in the history of natural science!” Jaehwan was now rubbing his neck in surprise. “This test is gonna kill everyone’s mood for the next three months.”

 

 

 

Daniel gulped harshly.  
He had nothing against being an omega. His sister cousin is an omega and she is living quite an awesome and peaceful life except for the part where a painful and uncomfortable heat cycle comes every three months. He’s a tough guy so pain wouldn’t scare him the least but he really wants to be a beta.  His role model, his mother, has been one of the strongest and most influential person in his life without having to be an alpha and he wants to be exactly like her. Also, to legally own peter and rooney, he needed to be a beta. 

 

 

 

“I am officially scared,” Daniel announced.

 

 

 

“Fear is for the weak!” Minki shouted, voice echoing throughout the whole cafeteria. “If you have the confidence of being either an alpha, beta or even omega, be sure to yourself. If you can deceive your mind, you can deceive everybody else and you can deceive the initiating machine.”

 

 

 

A few people nearby managed to clap their hands in the midst of their mental breakdown and Minki took his bow in front of the audience.

 

 

 

“Thanks, I guess.”

 

 

 

“Cheer up, sports! A lot of people have been presented as a beta so far that means your possibility of being one is pretty high.” Minhyun patted Daniel’s shoulder to cheer him up.

Seongwu offered him a soft smile and Daniel heaved a sigh before returning it with a bright grin of his own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One by one, names are called by the initiation staff towards the door and one by one, students strode out of the exam room looking haphazard and shell-shocked.

“Let’s make prediction!” Jaehwan finally decided to break the ice in their group. Silence rarely envelopes them since a loudspeaker, a clown, a maniac, three overexcited and overgrown pups, a jukebox and a diva are in one place at the same time but today is an exception.

 

 

 

“What prediction exactly?” Minhyun quirked an eyebrow.

 

 

Jaehwan pointed to Minhyun in an instant. “I predict you’ll be an alpha! Anyone wants to differ from this opinion?”

A chorused of ‘no’ from everyone was enough and Jaehwan nodded proudly.

 

 

This time, it was Minhyun who was pointing to Jaehwan. “I predict you’ll be a beta, an annoying and sinister beta. Anyone wants to differ from this opinion?”

 

Another round of ‘no’ are said in unison.   
The current predictions so far: Minki being a loud omega, Daehwi being a sassy omega too, Seongwu being a shitty alpha, Daniel as a childish beta, Seonho as a clueless omega and Kuanlin being a responsible beta.

And they went along with this little game, predicting the fate of students around them too until one of them gets called up. It was Minhyun’s turn first.

 

 

Once Minhyun disappeared behind closed doors, Daniel began to panic.  
“Hyung,” Daniel took Seongwu’s hand into his own, eyes now staring directly into the elder’s almost pitch black irises with so much intensity that Seongwu started to worry. He took a deep and shaky breath  as his thumb rubbed circles around Seongwu’s hand.

 

 

 

 “If… if I don’t make it back…”

 

 

 

Seongwu cracked up and began laughing hysterically, covering his mouth to minimize the sound.

 

“Hyung! I am being very serious here!”

 

 

 

Seongwu swiped the tears from the corner of his eyes from laughing too hard. “I am sorry, puppy. I just-“ and he continued guffawing again. “Why are you staying stuff like that? You’re not gonna die, Niel!” 

 

 

 

Daniel wanted to say something, really, to pour out his concern and stop Seongwu from being an insensitive prick who kept laughing for the next few minutes nonstop but he doesn’t do anything. He just sat there, eyes never leaving Seongwu’s form, heart beating three beats faster than normal. His shoulders slouched in content and pure relaxation as the music of Seongwu’s laughter rings cheerfully in his mind, a feast for his ears. 

 

It was weird, Daniel thought one day, that he liked listening to Seongwu’s endless rant of being a college student and a part timer at the nearby restaurant, that he liked eavesdropping on his hyung while the older is singing in the kitchen, that he enjoyed staying up all night to make sure Seongwu finishes his assignment on time even though he hadn’t slept a wink the night before. 

 

It was ridiculous for him because when Seongwu went to New York for a whole week, Daniel felt like his soul was leaving his body ever so slowly, that he lost the will and energy to continue the rest of his day. Without Seongwu, Daniel’s life had been terribly plain and uneventful.

 

One day Minhyun had came up to him and say ‘I think you really like Ong Seongwu’ which is replied with Kang Daniel’s famous smile and ‘I think people are misunderstanding. Seongwu hyung is like my twin, my other half’ and Jaehwan butted in to say, ‘you don’t really understand the usage of other half that well’.

 

 

That particular conversation never really bothered him because for Daniel, it was true, he likes Seongwu and cherishes his entire being but as nothing more than a loving brother. 

 

 

Besides, Ong Seongwu liking Kang Daniel as a love interest? Impossible. Seongwu had always wanted an older guy as his boyfriend.

 

 

 

 

Suddenly, the door opened and Minhyun’s neutral face came into view. Daniel woke up from his thoughts and snapped back into reality. He looked at Minhyun’s folded result paper but did not ask any question as the older sat back to his original place with a grin. He did not expect that the test would be so quick.

 

 

 

“Ong Seongwu! Ong Seongwu, student number 13096!” A voice hollered.

 

Seongwu stood up immediately and he looked down at Daniel’s worried eyes. “I’ll be fine, puppy.”

 

 

“You should be,” Daniel muttered under his breath. 

 

With a final ruffle to Daniel’s head, Seongwu hurried himself towards the staff and exited the cafeteria.

 

 

Now that Seongwu’s not there, Daniel got even more anxious as he slipped himself between Jaehwan and Minki’s spot.

 

 

 

“I am not gonna tell you guys what I got,” Minhyun said suddenly. “Once each of us had gotten the results, then we’ll reveal at the same time.”

 

 

“Call!” Daehwi chirped cheerfully.

 

 

Jaehwan only squinted his eyes. “No fun.”

 

 

The clock ticked by slowly, the hour hand seemingly rotating at a much slower pace than usual. When the other boys were talking and discussing on what to have for lunch and other nonsense, Daniel couldn’t stop biting his fingernail and tapping his foot impatiently. If the rest of them noticed Daniel’s sudden silence, none said anything about it and let him be. 

 

 

After what felt like a year, Seongwu finally  walked out of the doors with that weird face he always make when he wanted to start a lie or feeling stuffy and awkward in a completely new place. The result folder was hidden behind his back and Daniel had a feeling that Seongwu might not received a good news after all. 

 

 

Minhyun ran towards Seongwu first, unlike what Kuanlin had expected since Daniel would usually be the first person to greet Seongwu with much enthusiasm. Turned out, Minhyun was only telling him about the previous agreement on not telling anyone about the results yet.

 

It was tough for Daniel.  
It was hard for him to silently watch Seongwu from a distance because usually they are inseparable, attached to the hips and could not be detached by anything. During group hang outs, year end parties, late night study sessions, they would always stick to each other like gum and there's no real definition of personal space. So it became so strange that the air between them changed in an instant and Seongwu couldn’t even meet Daniel’s eyes without slightly flinching. 

 

 

 

“You okay, hyung?” Daniel asked slowly. He was about to tap the elder’s shoulder when Seongwu literally jumped out of his seat.

 

“I- I’m fine! There’s just- uh, you know, electro circuit running in my system. The machine electrocuted me for goodness sake, don’t wanna hurt you, puppy.” Seongwu replied with a tense smile, taking careful steps backward as if avoiding the younger’s physical contact.

 

 

Seongwu now sat the furthest away, hiding away between Minhyun and Kuanlin’s forms while doing anything that did not require Daniel’s participation. Daniel wanted to shout, to ask if something was wrong but he couldn’t. Seongwu would shrug him off and swat his questions away like it meant nothing. The last time they avoided each other was when Seongwu being heavily drunk after finals and Daniel stressing out for his own test that led to a pretty messy fight. 

 

 

 “Buddy, you alright?”Jaehwan slung an arm around Daniel’s hunched back.

 

 

 

“Not at all,” he said in a low tone.

 

 

“You’ll be fine, the machine won’t actually kill you.”

 

 

“That’s not what I was worried about.”

 

 

Jaehwan pressed his lips into a thin line before taking a guess. “Seongwu hyung doesn’t hate you, you know.”

 

 

 

Daniel groaned and buried his face into his palms. “I know but why is he doing this?”

 

 

 

Jaehwan looked back and forth the duo who were sitting away from each other, the furthest he had recorded. “He’s doing this for a reason.”

 

 

 

“But that doesn’t stop me from being very concerned right now! Before he got into the initiation room, hyung was completely fine and now he’s avoiding me like plague. They might have done something terrible to Seongwu hyung in there and I-“

 

“Daniel, breathe.” Jaehwan instructed softly which the boy obeyed in aa matter of seconds. “Don’t stress too much about it, okay?”

 

Daniel nodded in silence as numerous thoughts crossed his mind, ugly thoughts mostly.

 

 

After a few names were called, it was Daniel’s turn. His friends had shouted many embarrassing things as per usual as he proceed to the door but none of them were from Seongwu. Seongwu did not even glance his way.

 

 

 

The initiation room was actually the chemistry lab. After being led by the staff through maze-like hallways and corridors, Daniel was ushered into the lab. He wondered if he was still in the university grounds.

There were a middle aged man in suits, a woman in her early 30s and a lady in her late 50s sitting behind a long table. They must be part of the test too, he presumed. 

 

 

“Good… afternoon,” Daniel awkwardly bowed his head. The three soon gestured on the lone chair in the middle of the empty lab.

 

 

 

After the quick introductions, Daniel was bombarded with questions and none of them had any correlations with the topic of being a beta so he answered everything with an uneasy heart. After the trivial quizzes were done, the student was herded towards a monitoring machine really similar to an X-ray ones.

 

 

 

“You look pretty down,” the younger woman said as she prepared the machine and punching buttons on the screen.

 

 

“I was nervous, mam.”

 

 

 

“Looks like you had a fight with your lover?” she guessed.

 

 

 

Daniel shrugged. “Some sort of like that.”

 

 

 

“Was it the guy you mentioned in your test, what was his name again? Seongwu?”

 

 

 

The heat reached Daniel’s cheeks in no time as he quickly made an X with both hands while blushing madly . “I- He’s not my boyfriend.”

 

 

 

“If you say so.” The woman supplied, looking smug for some reason as Daniel went through with his physical examination.

 

 

 

 

In no time, Daniel was given a sealed folder and now ended up back in the cafeteria while holding unto the result paper. Earlier today he was so impatient on finding out what his role was but now he did not have the slightest urge to know his own result. His mood had plummeted down the moment Seongwu came out of this very door looking and acting like a total stranger.

 

 

 

“Danny boy! Come here!” It was Minki’s voice that brought him back to reality. He offered a tiny smile as he walked back to his friends and pretend not to notice that Seongwu did not even say a word at his arrival.

 

 

 

Daniel took a seat and sighed, what’s wrong with Seongwu?

“Because Danny boy was the last person to get himself presented, let’s finally spill the beans and show your results to everyone!”Minki hollered excitedly while the rest took out their papers at the same time.

 

 

 

Jaehwan cleared his throat. “In the count of three, show your results together comrades! 1, 2, 3!”

 

 

 

Daniel took his time ripping the seal of his folder and taking out his paper almost too slowly.

“Oh My Gosh!” Seonho shrieked. “How the hell did Minki hyung got an A?? Minki hyung, an alpha??”

 

 

 

 

Kuanlin stared in disbelief. “There is no way in hell is Minhyun hyung an omega…”

 

 

 

 

Jaehwan left his seat to hug Minhyun out of the blue while emitting that fear-inducing shriek of a laughter. “Can’t believe we are gonna be omegas together!”

 

 

 

 

In the midst of a major chaos, Daniel’s eyes were only focused on one thing, particularly on the bright red stamp on Seongwu’s paper at the far end of the group : a big fat O.

 

 

 

He looked back to Seongwu’s face in pure shock. The other male only smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

 

 

 

“Oh I can’t believe it!” Minki guffawed. “HwangOngHwan are omegas together!”

 

 

 

“None of our predictions are correct except for Kuanlin’s! Even Daehwi got to be a beta!” Seonho grabbed his hair in frustration. “I can’t believe I’m also a beta. What sorcery is this?!”

 

 

 

 

After the fiasco slowly subsided as per Minhyun’s request to tone the noises down, everyone turned to Daniel with a frown. “What did you get, Daniel? Why didn’t you show us yours?”

 

 

 

Daehwi snatched the paper in Daniel’s hands like the pro he is and gasped as soon as he spotted the red ink.

 

 

 

Everyone immediately left their seats to see the results with their own eyes, gasping too after making sure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kang Daniel.  
Faculty of Law.  
Alpha.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first chapter is up! :) i hope its good enough! Thank you so much for the warm welcome, all the hits and kudos, nice comments make me extremely giddy


	3. Simulation

"Wow.”

 

Jaehwan stared at nothing in particular, just blanking out like the rest of the squad while holding unto his ice cream cone. “Wow,” he repeated again but no one seemed to mind his nonsense right now.

 

 

It was initiation day. But again, it was one of the shittiest and most unexpectedly surprising day for every student in the university territory. Jaehwan, Daniel, Seonho and Kuanlin were sitting in one line together on the bench just a few steps from the big oak tree in the campus lawn. It’s summer so the outdoor seemed to be the better place to mope around and sulk, this applies to everyone. 

 

 

“Still can’t believe Minki hyung is an alpha,” Seonho mumbled, leaning his head on Jaehwan’s shoulder. “Still can’t believe every single thing happening right now is actually happening.”

 

Kuanlin rubbed his temple. “As long as I could remember, Minki hyung dislikes alpha to a very extreme point. How is he going to handle this sudden info…of being an alpha.”

 

Daniel heaved a very deep sigh and looked up at the blue sky and lumpy clouds in a tired daze. None of the predictions they made were right and the test results were nonsensical. Well, at least from the test he got one good news: peter and rooney are gonna be under his care after the new semester starts. But on another note, the initiation had made at least 300 people cry, one of them including Choi Minki who was currently in the toilet, crying his hearts out with Seongwu, Daehwi and Minhyun trying to cheer him up at this moment.

 

 

Talking about Seongwu…

Daniel groaned at his own thoughts. How can Seongwu avoid him just like that? How in the world did Ong Seongwu, the only living creature in this universe to sincerely care and put up with Daniel’s stupid and mostly random antics, to suddenly turn into a complete new person and acted as if a certain Kang Daniel never existed? That is unfair, and really heartbreaking.

 

After the group revelation, Minhyun was the only person who’s in his right mind and took his responsibility as the eldest to herd the rest of the team out of the cafeteria towards the outside world. The air surrounding them was too suffocating.

 

As soon as they reached the main entrance, Minki started breaking down and voila! here they are, mentally exhausted and dying to find a place to rest and let the issue die down. As much as he wanted to confront Seongwu’s sudden change in demeanor, Daniel knew better not to do it today. 

 

 

Daniel took another deep breath before finally directing his gaze elsewhere. His eyes landed on the three approaching figures, obviously looking dead tired and all that jazz.

“Dongho called just now. He said he has soju, beer and chicken at home. Who wants in?” Minhyun said with a smile, steps slowing as he neared the bench. It still becomes a mystery on how he could still smile after all the emotion roller coaster.

 

“Me!” It was Jaehwan who raised his hand enthusiastically at the mention of alcohol. The rest agreed to end the tiring day with food and beverages. 

 

Daniel knew he was not imagining things so he started doing headcount and true to his thoughts, someone was indeed missing. They were supposed to be 8 altogether, there’s only seven. Seongwu was not with them.

 

“Minhyun hyung, where’s Seongwu hyung?” Daniel asked, the urgency in his voice startling everyone. 

 

Minhyun looked confused. “Wasn’t he with you guys? Only Daehwi and I went to the toilet with Minki…”

 

“Shit.” 

Daniel fished out his phone and dialed the numbers he had memorized by heart. The call rings once, twice, thrice even until the end, Seongwu did not pick up. He tried again to no avail.

 

“Danny boy, calm down. I am sure he’s still around campus somewhere.” Minki said in his hoarse voice, eyes still red but able to shoot Daniel a calming glance.

 

But the thing was Daniel got a very bad feeling that something wrong might happen to Seongwu. His guts are always right when it’s about Seongwu and at that exact moment , he felt like puking out his breakfast and breaking out into cold sweat.

 

“I’m gonna look for him.” It was not a suggestion, more like a statement that Daniel is going to find his hyung, like it or not, as he dashed across the lawn in a terrifying speed.

 

Daniel ran towards the only place that came through his head first, the library. Seongwu hates going to the library and hates studying with his entire being, not to mention all the books stacked up in the shelves made him feel extremely uncomfortable but he would always go there on a bad day and sleep his tiredness away in one of the corners that provides good air conditioning before going back to the apartment.

 

Once Daniel made it there, he was welcomed with a thousand scents hitting him right on the face. His sudden ability to detect people’s natural smell scared him but that’s not his priority right now, Seongwu is. He slowly entered the huge library, unfamiliar scents infiltrating his nostrils painfully that he stopped in his steps for a while to shake all the smell away. It was surprisingly crowded today, a lot of people were clearly taking advantage of the spacious area to think about themselves after being presented. Some were doing research on their supposed role in the system.

 

It took Daniel almost half an hour to look up every nook and cranny of the library to find Seongwu at a secluded corner away from the rowdy bunch of students. When he found Seongwu, the older was half asleep, books about biology and human secondary anatomy scattered around him messily. The view broke Daniel’s heart. Seongwu wasn’t supposed to be an omega.

 

 

 

He took a deep breath of relief after panicking the entire time searching for his hyung and now, he finally got a sniff of what Seongwu’s scent smells like. The scent was of a very soft cotton, so soothing and calming that Daniel thought he was away from town and back to his grandparents place somewhere in the remote village in Busan.

 

 

“Hyung,” he called almost silently.

 

Seongwu immediately looked up from his position on the floor, eyes now wide open in alarm. Daniel took a step back hurriedly when he saw Seongwu flinch away out of fear, and he was the reason why.

 

“Puppy, can you just let me... be for a few more days?” Seongwu said, eyes darting everywhere as if he’s afraid to be seen anywhere near the younger.

 

Although pained, Daniel offered a tiny smile. “I will give you space, hyung. Don’t worry about privacy and stuff because you know I’d do anything. But I have one question…why? Why are you avoiding me?”

 

“I don’t have time to explain, Niel. You just need to stay away from me.”

 

“Am I such a nuisance to you?” Daniel held the urge to lash out or break into a sob at that moment. “Did I do something wrong?”

 

Seongwu stood up and collected his stuff. “You’ll never be a nuisance to me, pup. I- well let’s just say this is my way of protecting you. I want you to be safe.”

 

“Did the people from the initiation tell you to stay away from me?” 

 

Seongwu stared at Daniel for a while, eyes ever so warm and welcoming, and he smiled. “I always have a reason for my actions and you know I’d never do anything to hurt you. I’m sorry.”

 

Before he can ask any question about the cryptic reply, Seongwu had already made his way out of the library in a blink of an eye, leaving Daniel to his own devices. Seongwu’s scent slowly faded away as his figure disappeared out of the door. Daniel sighed.

 

Safe? Is someone trying to kill him? Torture him? Push him off a cliff? Highly doubted.

 

Seongwu was acting strange and Daniel couldn’t shake off the bad vibes his gut had been signaling all day. 

While thinking of scenarios and reasons why Seongwu’s been acting like a stranger, Daniel was too preoccupied to see and detect the unfamiliar scent quietly inching from behind with a baseball bat in the person’s hand. By the time Daniel realized that someone might have been a little too close for his liking, it was too late. The last thing Daniel remembered before fainting and hitting the ground was a painful hit to his leg and a dull ache on his head. Everything turned black.

 

 

 

_____________

 

 

 

 

 

 

“… you know the consequences, boy…”

 

 

“I stayed away from him and I kept my promise!”

 

 

“But in the end both of you still conversed, didn’t you? I have eyes everywhere and my little spies told me that you have spoken to Kang Daniel when you’re obviously forbidden to. You broke our agreement, pretty boy. Now he needs to take the punishment for your mistake.”

 

 

“W-what will you do to him?”

 

 

“Daniel? Don’t worry about him dear, its just a couple of tests, mostly physical endurance and chemical withstanding or some sort of those mad scientist thing that I did not sign up for so I don’t know, my boss is the smarter one. He’ll know what to do with such a rare alpha.”

 

Daniel slowly blinked his eyes open, the conversation being the first thing that greeted him upon consciousness. Now lying on his back and fully awake, he could make out the dim light bulb hanging above him as the only source of light in the room. A sharp sting behind his neck also made itself known as Daniel slowly sat up straight and leaned against the nearest wall for support. His eyes were bleary and still heavy from deep slumber but he willed himself to look around to see where the voices were coming from. 

 

He was in a mediocre room with no furniture, no window and no ventilation whatsoever. The plain white walls were facing him almost mockingly, as if saying that he’ll be locked inside for good with a door at the end of the room as the only way in and out. 

 

 

“Don’t hurt Daniel, he didn’t even know he was going to be an alpha. Please.”

This voice obviously belonged to Seongwu and by listening to its content, its not a pretty friendly conversation. 

 

 

Another voice laughed. “We can’t let him go just like that, boss needs a specimen like him.”

 

“I’ll do anything so please let him go.” At this point, Seongwu was practically begging and his voice sounded so desperate.

 

Daniel carefully stood up, putting all his weight on his good foot while limping his way towards the source of voice which was coming from the door.

 

“You can always replace the kid’s place, you know? Male omegas only cover 7% of the world population and people have a thing for very rare species like you so I think my boss would like to have your company. He’s in need of a plaything too.”

 

Something in Daniel just snapped as if someone had just lit up a fire in his lungs, a tight rope constricting his throat.

“I’ll go with you under one condition; leave Daniel alone.”

 

 

There’s a tired sigh coming from the outside. “Fine. If that’s what you want then we have ourselves a deal but he’ll have to stay here for a few more hours until you made it safely back to boss’ lab. Then I’ll release him.”

 

Seongwu didn’t answer anything else so Daniel tried turning the knob to the door but remain locked. He put more strength unto the handle but the door would not budge a single inch. He kicked the thick wood a few more times fruitlessly, sending jolts of pain back to his injured leg. 

“Oh look, your boyfriend’s awake!” 

 

“Get your fucking ass away from Seongwu!” Daniel growled dangerously, hands desperately hitting the wall.

 

 

There’s a laugh coming from the other side of the wall. “Your boyfriend is pretty possessive of you, Seongwu dear. Come on, let’s get moving.”

 

“Hyung, don’t listen to him! Just run and get out of here!” Daniel was also desperate at this rate because he didn’t know how dangerous the situation before and he would never let Seongwu get involved in something that would hurt him in the first place if he had known about it.

 

 

Seongwu neared the door from the other side, whispering softly. “Sorry puppy but I need you to be safe.”  
After that, Daniel couldn’t hear anything else other than the taps of shoes against the floor. They were leaving.

 

 

“Hyung!”

Daniel banged on the door a few more times without getting a proper feedback. Seongwoo’s smell was fading. The older is getting further away from him.

 

 

“Fuck!” Daniel cursed in frustration, hands clutching his head to force himself to think. “This can’t be happening…”

 

 

There’re too many things going on today and the problems were making his head spin. First, he was told that he is an alpha when he’s sure that he’d at least be a beta or omega. Then, Seongwu was presented as an omega when everybody else were pretty sure he’d be an alpha by looking at his temper and reckless actions. Third, he’s now involved in some sort of a dangerous organization (if he’s not wrong deducting) and Seongwu was trying to save both of them while he’s the one who put them in danger in the first place. 

 

 

“Fuck!” he shouted to no one but himself.

 

 

For the second time that day, Daniel’s mind raced at an incredible speed with most terrible scenarios playing in his head. Seongwu is in trouble, he was going to be treated poorly and taken into chemical testing, surely that’s not a good news. Daniel thought of how the unfair world he’s living in, the world where omegas are only considered as a breeding machine and… wait. 

 

 

One of the most disturbing thought dawned upon Daniel. Seongwu was going to be forced into heat. Why else would they bring him to lab? They’ll force him to carry a baby. He’s gonna be ra-

 

 

Daniel couldn’t even continue his own thought, disgusted and enraged.

 

 

 

“Boss’ plaything?” he repeated in anger, words tasting bitter on his tongue. “Seongwu is no one’s plaything.”

 

 

Daniel stomped back towards the door, forgetting the pain on his leg and aching head. He closed his eyes, clenching his fist in pure fury and gathered his senses. With only the thought of Seongwu in his mind, Daniel gritted his teeth and launched a kick to the door. 

 

 

The wooden material cracked after the impact, lights from outside filtering through the cracks as the metal hinges of the door creaked under the heavy pressure. Daniel now directed his following move to the door knob. In one swift and strong kick, the door handle came falling off the main door. He punched the metal knob a few times to make sure the lock is not gonna block his last move. One more kick and it was enough to knock the whole door down.

 

 

Daniel quickly went out of the room, finding himself in a deserted corridor after stepping away from the fallen door. Following his instinct, he dashed towards the end of the hallway where the lingering scent of Seongwu leads to.

 

 

He didn’t know how long he had been running nor how long his wounded leg could hold on but Daniel kept on searching and picking up Seongwu’s scent at every corner although the place had at least a thousand different smells combined. The unfamiliar place was dizzying, eerily similar to a labyrinth with no way out until he picked up an alpha’s scent.

 

 

Daniel prepped himself for a fight, hiding behind the wall and ready to pounce on the incoming alpha. But when he came out of his hiding place and fist ready to throw a punch, he was met with Dongho’s tired face.

 

 

“What are you doing here, hyung?” Daniel lowered his hand immediately, confused and still high on adrenaline.

 

 

“I’m heading to the finish line. What else?” the other male’s tone was so low Daniel might have thought that Dongho was angry.

 

 

“W-wait, what… what finish line?”

 

 

Dongho blinked a few times. “You didn’t know, did you?”

 

 

“Know what?!” 

 

 

“Since you looked like you’re in a hurry, I’ll just let you know the directions to reach the exit. From here, go straight until you see a fork, then take the left hallway. Go right on the first turn, there’ll be a door with a black BREAK ROOM written on it.” 

 

 

Daniel frowned. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

 

 

“I eventually will reach there but you look like death is at your tail and I’m not up to running for my life because I haven’t ate lunch yet so I do not have the spirit nor the energy to move at such a high speed. You should go first, I’ll catch up with you later.” Dongho looked so calm and this made Daniel somehow curious. Didn’t he know that Seongwu is in danger?

 

 

 

Daniel quickly made his way according to Dongho’s directory, dashing past multiple doors and hallways without questioning the detailed mapping that the elder had given.

 

 

By the time he reached the particular door that Dongho mentioned previously, Daniel was a heaving mess. He was tired and in pain after god knows how long he had been running. Unexpectedly, the door wasn’t locked so it was easy to open and enter the room. He still put up a defense stance in case there are guards and incoming threats behind the door.

 

 

Daniel didn’t spare anything else a single glance as soon as he picked up Seongwu’s scent and his eyes found the elder’s form in the room. Seongwu was sitting on a chair unharmed, looking fine and slightly bored to say the least but he was still okay with no sign of wound on him and that’s more than enough. Daniel could feel himself panting harshly, heartbeat deafening his ears and relief washing off his entire being. He was drenched in sweat but he didn’t care anymore as he strode to Seongwu.

 

 

“Puppy…” Seongwu trailed off unconsciously. He looked shock as he realized Daniel’s presence and jumped out of his seat to stand straight. “H-how did you…”

 

 

Without any second thoughts, Daniel surged forward to envelope Seongwu in a tight hug. At the sheer force and speed coming from the younger, Seongwu had to step back because he didn’t know Daniel got that much energy in him to send both of them staggering backwards. The hands around Seongwu’s waist were shaking and he felt terribly bad for worrying Daniel out of all people he had known. 

 

 

Seongwu patted his head softly, making sure Daniel’s head was comfortable in the crooks of his neck. And Daniel… well, he was too tired to care at this point, feeling his legs would give up any moment because the injury wasn’t helping at all. He inhaled Seongwu’s scent deeply to calm his inner self, to let his inner alpha know that the elder is safe in his arms. He couldn’t even differentiate whether it was tears or sweat running down his cheek but all he knew is Seongwu was out of harm’s way and that’s the best possible outcome from his stupidly conjured possibilities. 

 

 

 

“I’m sorry for scaring you, puppy.” Seongwu whispered as he rubbed circles on Daniel’s back, noticing that the younger had trouble breathing.

 

 

Daniel pulled back slowly. His eyes scanned Seongwu up and down numerous time before dropping to the ground on his knees.

 

 

“Niel-ah!”  
Surprised, Seongwu kneeled right in front of him in an instant. “What’s wrong, are you okay? Shit, I think I see blood on your jeans. Please don’t faint on me! Fuck, I don't have any bandaids with me what the hell..."

 

 

In the midst of Seongwu’s endless babble, Daniel found himself grinning like a man gone mad and chuckled at the sight in front of him. Seongwu was never the one to lose his cool and fret like a mother hen especially in public but today, oh today out of every other day, he decided to show this side of him, the side that shows how much he care, the side that no one else had seen before out of the comfort of Seongwu’s bedroom. 

 

 

“Oh my gosh, you’ve gone insane!” Seongwu panicked when the other continued chuckling, hitting Daniel’s arm in the process. “Even your knuckles are bleeding, I think you lost too much blood here.”

 

 

True to his words, Daniel finally felt liquid dripping off his fingertips and the color of it didn’t look like a mere sweat or water. He turned his palm over to inspect the badly wounded knuckles with fresh blood pooling on the torn skin. No wonder it he felt the sting somewhere along the journey.

 

 

“Seongwu, I think Danny boy needs the chair right about now.” A voice interrupted.

 

 

 

Wait, there’s nobody else who would call him with such pet name except…

 

 

“Minki hyung?” Daniel turned towards the door and found a disinterested Minki, looking pretty mad.

 

 

“Yeah, cool. You didn’t know about this whole test thingy too, did you? Well that makes the two of us.” Minki replied cheerily with a sense of sarcasm dripping in his tone.

 

 

Daniel is beyond confused. “Wha- who… what’s going on? What test?”

 

 

Finally Daniel took the time to see his surrounding and spotted many monitors in the room. There were a few people sitting on the chair that Seongwu had seated previously, one of them happened to be Minhyun. Dongho even made it to the room without breaking a sweat.

 

 

“Congratulations, you three had passed the Alpha Simulation with one of the fastest record!” 

 

 

Daniel whipped his head fast towards the source of voice. He quickly stood up and made a protective stance in front of Seongwu who’s slowly standing up too.

 

This voice… the one previously conversing with Seongwu.

 

 

The person was an alpha male, Daniel was sure about that and this information had just triggered his own territorial alpha. 

 

“No need to be aggressive and on guard, Mr. Kang. I have no ill intentions towards you nor Mr. Ong.”

 

 

“No ill intentions my ass! You were going to hurt-“

 

 

 

“The conversation you heard in your room was scripted, Daniel. All of it were lies.” The man spoke again, now looking obviously amused. “We had to make you desperate enough to escape so we asked for Seongwu’s help. Ah, introductions! Where were my manners… My name is Kwon Jaeil and the current operating director to Korea’s Initiation System so in short, I was the one behind all the tests and examinations.”

 

 

The name sounded very familiar but Daniel couldn’t find himself to calm down because he still felt anger boiling in his veins. 

 

 

“Test?! You did all these,” Daniel gestured to his entire being; bloody, battered, exhausted, furious. “only for a fucking test?!”

 

 

The man walked forward to inspect Daniel’s leg and the newly presented alpha was still covering Seongwu with his body.

 

 

“Sorry about your leg, we did not know you’ll overexert your calf to the extent of making it bleed. And also, we did not know you’d react wildly to the fake conversation. The simulation was held to know the extent of your potentials in strength and temper only, not to hurt anyone to this extent.”

 

 

“How could you make Seongwu do all these?! How could you use him against me?!”

 

 

"We thought you have a special bond with Seongwu-ssi so we asked for his help to play along."

 

Daniel was about to lunge forward and punch the man’s pretty face with his fist when Seongwu just jumped out from his back and now blocking his path. The fist stopped just inches away from Seongwu’s nose and now shaking in anger. Daniel slowly retreated his hand and gritted his teeth.  
Seongwu brought a hand to Daniel’s jaw and softly moved it over to cup his cheek. Like on instinct, Daniel leaned into the touch and stared right into Seongwu’s eyes while controlling his bubbling fury.

 

 

“It’s just a test, puppy.” Seongwu said in a whisper. “I’m not hurt. No one got hurt. Except you.”

 

 

 

Daniel wanted to scream or shout or do something to let everybody know that he was so close to losing his mind at the thought of losing the person he cared most but he didn’t.

 

 

He did nothing because Seongwu was currently giving him the careful look with his eyes, telling him through their eye contact that everything is fine. Daniel took a deep breath and that comforting scent coming from Seongwu was lulling him to sleep.

 

 

"Was this the reason why you had been avoiding me since the test?" Daniel quietly questioned.

 

 

Seongwu nodded. "They knew before the physical exam that you had a very huge possibility of becoming an alpha and to test you in the simulation, I played a part. They offered me a passing score for my failing math class, who am I to reject such offer. Besides, I never thought you'd actually panic over me."

 

 

Daniel snorted and cracked a tiny smile with his bunnh teeth peeking out. "So you didn't hate me?"

 

 

 

 

 

“Why would I ever detest you, puppy? This is just a test to see who could be the top alpha. Everything is just an act. Even Minki was forced into this, they said they had his cat in custody when they actually don’t.” Seongwu explained carefully as if talking to a child.

 

 

 

“Every alpha went through this simulation?” Daniel asked, now pressing a palm against Seongwu’s hand on his cheek.

 

 

 

“Yeah,” the older coolly replied. “But they haven’t got out yet or have the slightest clue on how to escape. They’re not my Kang Daniel who can break a door down with a few punches and kicks.”

 

 

Daniel found himself smiling at the comment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Can you guys cut it off already? I mean, you guys have your own apartment right? Continue that in your love shack because I need to finish this fast so I can grab lunch!”  
They pulled apart at Dongho’s stern voice.

 

 

 

“Well, thank you Dongho. I thought you wouldn’t join us,” Jaeil said in a teasing manner.

 

 

 

“Just make this quick, I am starving.”

 

 

 

\------------------

 

 

The three alphas were led to a different room now, filled with surveillance monitors that shows many other students who were still in their locked room.

 

 

“We put cctv cameras in each room, which went unnoticed by Daniel and Minki,” Jaeil started. 

 

 

“You knew about this?!” Minki shrieked right to Dongho’s face. “You knew about the cameras?”

 

 

Jaeil laughed and showed a recording from Dongho’s room. “Yes he did.”

 

 

As soon as Dongho appeared in the camera, he showed both of his middle fingers and mock-saluted before sulking at the corner of the room without even trying to get out. 

 

 

“I found out that the university would close down all activities in the basement area every time they held the initiation and I figured they’d do something like this so I did a little research.” Dongho shrugged. "I was gonna help Minhyun and Seongwu by this information once they're presented alpha. But who knows what the future holds."

 

 

Daniel crossed his arms. “Now what do you want from us?”

 

 

“To make it simple, you guys walked right of your respective rooms at the same time.” Jaeil said while playing three videos of them. “And we can only have one person to appear on the University annual magazine as top alpha.”

 

 

“Minki can do it,” Dongho said firmly.

 

 

“Yeah, I never wanted to appear on the magazine anyway.” Daniel supplied.

 

 

The man frowned. “But I don’t think it will be fair since both of you also managed to get out at such a record time.”

 

 

“We take cash… or vouchers as gifts.” This time Dongho was smiling smugly. Daniel also nodded at the suggestion. “Oh, we also take extra credit points in our classes for compensation after all the suffering and stuff. Cash also works too since I gotta buy medicine and things to patch myself up.”

 

 

Jaeil chuckled. “That can be arranged. So Minki appears on the cover of magazine and both of you get side prizes?”

 

 

“Good with me! Now I will excuse myself to get a deserved paid lunch courtesy of Hwang Minhyun,” Dongho said as he exited the room with light steps.

 

 

“Nice meeting you, Mr. Kwon.” Minki said as he raced towards the door to catch up.

 

 

Daniel was about to leave too when Jaeil stopped him.

“The thought of losing Seongwu… how did that feel?”

 

 

“What?” Daniel scowled.

 

 

"We made sure that every new alpha presented today had a weakness and used it against their morality, to wake their inner potentials of being the strongest in our system, except for Dongho, he doesn't seem to have a weakness. But you have, and I was just curious to how you had felt back then, knowing Seongwu was in danger.”

 

 

Daniel planned on leaving the place right away and let the question hang in the air without a proper answer.

 

 

“From what I saw, that desperation and fire burning in your eyes, that wasn’t what a person would do for their friend. If I were you and they held my friend captive, I wouldn’t react too badly. I’d just think of another way to escape, to offer a deal or anything less dangerous. But you… you would die for Seongwu, wouldn’t you?”

 

 

 

Daniel clenched his fist. “So what if I would. I would do anything to make sure he’s perfectly fine so what’s your point?”

 

 

Jaeil clapped his hands, wiping a nonexistent tear from the corner of his eyes. “That is very touching and all but this is the part where you realize you have feelings for your so-called best friend.”

 

 

 

Daniel opened his mouth to only close them back without anything to refute back.

“Dan, only a person in love would do such thing, would sacrifice themselves for others. Would you have done the same if it was Jaehwan or Minhyun? Would you had done the same if any of your friend was in Seongwu's place instead?”

 

 

In his head, Daniel answered no. He wouldn’t kick down a door and hurt his hand in the process. He wouldn’t run that desperately, wouldn’t even think that much in the first place. He would still think of a logical way out. And he wouldn't even run for his life to find them, to neglect the pain creeping up his leg and entire body.

 

He wouldn't feel like dying.

 

But as he ran through corridors and and hallways, praying to god that nothing bad would befall Seongwu, thinking that he could never meet the elder again, he felt as if the world was ending, a life not worth living without Seongwu in it.

 

 

 

 

 

Then it slowly, ever so slowly, painfully slowly dawned on Daniel. His face contorted into an ugly scowl.

 

 

 

 

 

“Congratulations in acknowledging the elephant in the room!” Jaeil clapped. “No wonder people said love is a weakness. Seongwu is yours. He is your weakness. So, I guess this is the end to your denial phase. Also, congratulations for presenting as an alpha today!”

 

 

 

After that Jaeil left the room after patting Daniel’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhm hi again(?) thank you so much for all the love and support to this story ! if there's anything anyone would like to ask, im open anytime!  
> also, does anybody know how to upload pictures here?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I finally decided to make an account and make my first ever story here! And since english is not my first language and i typed everything from my phone, there will be some mistakes here and there so please forgive me! And also this is my first shot at aboverse so it might get different from other authors'  
> Thank you very much for reading!


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